So, since it is my birthday and I am in a very good mood, I'm going to share with you these recipes. They are not mine, of course, but they are really good.

ENJOY THEM!!!!

Chocolate Nutella Cookies

Nutella, the classic hazelnut chocolate spread, was first created by invented by Italian pastry chef Pietro Ferrero in 1946. Since its release Nutella has become a valued ingredient in crepes, ice creams, and puddings. Of course, Nutella also works wonders in this crispy cookie. Chopped hazelnuts and chocolate chips echo the flavor of the Nutella, giving this cookie depth and complexity that perfectly accompany any work you might be doing yourself on your own late nights.

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup of brown sugar
3/4 cup of white sugar
1 cup of Nutella
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups, plus 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of chocolate chips
1/2 cup of chopped hazelnuts

Method

1 Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter in an electric mixer for 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the sugars and Nutella and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
2 Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 30 seconds between each. Add the vanilla and mix for 10 seconds.
3 Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda (do not skip this step as sifting eliminates clumps of cocoa). Mix into the butter mixture on low speed until fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides at least once to ensure even mixing. Fold in the chocolate chips and hazelnuts and refrigerate the dough for ten minutes.
4 Spoon tablespoon-sized drops of dough onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool on the sheets for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 6 dozen.

Julia Child’s Perfect Chocolate Mousse Recipe

My search for the perfect (this is David Lebovitz talking ok), most luscious and chocolaty mousse au chocolat brought me right back home to America, to Julia Child’s recipe. Although I have a few other versions in my repertoire, her recipe is a classic and has that perfect slightly-gummy texture, backed up by a wallop of pure dark chocolate flavor.

This recipe requires a vigorous bit of whipping. So if you’ve ever wanted to really know why French women don’t get fat even though they eat all those luscious desserts, well…once you make this mousse, you’ll soon learn the answer.

And because the recipe is classic French, it uses raw eggs. Since some folks are concerned about raw eggs, if you’re one of them, use pasteurized egg whites, which you should verify are suitable for whipping. Some won’t whip, which I learned the hard way a few years back. When I make anything that uses uncooked eggs, I use the freshest eggs I can get my hands on.

Speaking of top-quality, since the flavor of the mousse depends on good chocolate, feel free to splurge on a good brand; you won’t regret it. For this batch, I broke up a tablet of Green and Black’s organic 72% chocolate and melted it with Meyer’s dark rum along with good, strong coffee. You can also use what my pastry chef uses: Valrhora chocolate. For those of you in Venezuela, you can use chocolate El Rey :)
Bon Appétit!…as Julia would say.

Chocolate Mousse
Six to eight servings
Adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Knopf) by Julia Child.
I tried to reduce the amount of butter in the recipe and found it wasn’t nearly as good. Since I’m not one to argue with Julia, I stuck close to the recipe tweaking it just slightly.
6 ounces (170g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 ounces (170g) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup (60ml) dark-brewed coffee
4 large eggs, separated
2/3 cup (170g), plus 1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons (30ml) dark rum
1 tablespoon (15ml) water
pinch of salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Heat a saucepan one-third full with hot water, and in a bowl set on top, melt together the chocolate, butter and coffee, stirring over the barely simmering water, until smooth. Remove from heat.
2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.
3. In a bowl large enough to nest securely on the saucepan of simmering water, whisk the yolks of the eggs with the 2/3 cup of sugar, rum, and water for about 3 minutes until the mixture is thick, like runny mayonnaise. (You can also use a handheld electric mixer.)
3. Remove from heat and place the bowl of whipped egg yolks within the bowl of ice water and beat until cool and thick, as shown in the photo above. Then fold the chocolate mixture into the egg yolks.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until frothy. Continue to beat until they start to hold their shape. Whip in the tablespoon of sugar and continue to beat until thick and shiny, but not completely stiff, then the vanilla.
5. Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture, then fold in the remainder of the whites just until incorporated, but don’t overdo it or the mousse will lose volume.
6. Transfer the mousse to a serving bowl or divide into serving dishes, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.
Serving: I like to serve the chocolate mousse as it is, maybe with just a small dollop of whipped cream; it neither needs, nor wants, much adornment.
Storage: The mousse au chocolat can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

Tomorrow is my last chocolate class and I am sad but I will continue my chocolate journey, don't ya worry.... there is much more from Chocolatina :)

These are the pics from my last class: